Smart Strategies for Buying Airline Tickets

Sometimes, the cost of airline tickets can be half of the travel budget. How can you buy airline tickets cheaper, and what principles should you follow when planning your trip?

Start monitoring prices 6–8 months before your trip. Spend 1–2 weeks on monitoring, then you will have an objective view of the market prices for the destination you are interested in and can buy tickets at the best price.

I always look for tickets on Skyscanner. It also makes sense to subscribe to the newsletter of airlines that fly to the destination you are interested in. They often have promotions with attractive ticket prices that are only available if you book on their website.

Useful principles and tips when buying airline tickets:

• Let’s say I planned to vacation for 10 days, but Skyscanner shows that the return flight on the 11th day will be $100–200 cheaper. In this case, I will always prefer to rest for one more day and spend that $100–200 on my vacation rather than on the flight.
• On connecting flights, it is very important to consider the waiting time during the transfer. It is important to balance the long wait for the next flight with the risk of missing the plane. Of course, the less time you have to wait at the airport for your flight, the better since waiting is as tiring as the flight. But a connection that is too short can ruin all travel plans. The optimal time for a connection is 3–4 hours.
• If you have a connecting flight, be sure to check which terminal the next flight departs from. Changes in other terminals are quite common. Allow an additional 40–60 minutes for this.
• Check at the check-in desk at the point of departure whether you need to pick up your luggage and re-check it for the next flight. As a rule, it goes directly to the final destination, but exceptions exist. If you don’t consider this, you may arrive on vacation without your luggage.

Author: Artem Shambalov